Honda announced their ambitious 'Ring conquering Civic Type R last year. In the months that followed, rumors emerged that Honda would be pursuing the "Fastest FF car around the Nurburgring" crown by means of a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine in the 1.6-2.0L range. More recently, Honda announced an active (rear) damper system for their Civic Tourer, leading many to believe that this technology would be employed by the Civic Type R as well. For that matter, nobody would be surprised if P-AWS were implemented as well.

Today, AutoExpress published a new set of spy photos of the Civic Type R being tested against several key rivals.